In our fourth episode, we are joined by Professor William Mahrt of Stanford University who gives an introduction to the history, music, liturgical role, and spiritual value of Gregorian chant.

Dr Mahrt is the president of the Church Music Association of America (the CMAA), and the editor of Sacred Music, the journal of the CMAA. He’s a respected scholar of Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony who’s published numerous articles, and he also publishes a really helpful and interesting editorial in each issue of Sacred Music. More than all that, though, Professor Mahrt is a man who loves the sacred liturgy and its music, and has spent decades learning how to pray through the Church’s treasury of sacred music. He’s inspired countless people, your hosts of this podcast included, to really learn what the Church teaches about sacred music, and how these teachings lead us into the heart of the sacred liturgy as the communal encounter between man and the Blessed Trinity.

Dr. Mahrt’s book can be downloaded for free here: https://media.musicasacra.com/books/musicalshape_mahrt.pdf

Or a hardcover copy can be bought here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0984865209/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_LN.LCb7596EDT

To subscribe to the journal Sacred Music, click here: https://musicasacra.com/journal/sacred-music/